Automobile accelerator control



J m. 31, 1939. s, RODGERS 2,145,665

AUTOMOBILE ACCELERATOR CONTROL Filed larch 5, I 1936 D Patented Jan. 31, 193 I v UNITED s'ra'rss PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE izg fimn comer. I i I I Applications $218.5, SNO. 647,212

My invention relates to a safety device proshown, this spring pressure cooperating with viding dual speed controlling means and has throttle spring 9 acting to yieldingly hold the for its object the exercising of a certain predeterthrottle closed and the accelerator in its upmined control or restraint over the driverwhile ward position. cruising, which is operative at times when the A shaft I is journaledin depending members drivers mind may be occupied in conversation II on bracket 2 and is provided with a bell crank or when the mind is not definitely observant of having arms l2 and IS; a pad H on the end of the speed attained. arm i2 operatively contacts member 4 as illus- It is well known that a driver frequently attrated. Arm I3 is 'operatively connected to rod tains,unconsciously, a speed not desired or sought 8 by means of rod l5 as indicated. 10

and that his forethought as to speed, is safer Thus it will be seen that when accelerator 6 than the speed he is apt to reach while under is moved downward, plunger 4 will be moved upthe spell of scenery, conversation, ora sudden ward and lever I will be moved in direction of desire for a thrill or at a time when his sense the curvilinear arrow to thereby open the throtof security is submerged by these or other mattle and increase the mixture allowed to pass to 15 ters too numerous to mention. the engine.

I accomplish these objects by means of a sec- It will be understood that the position of my ondary spring which must be overcome byaddidevice and the operating connections tothe actional pressure on the accelerator at a predecelerator and carburetor lever may be changed termined or selected point, which may be fixed in any suitable manner whereby the device will 20 y a s 01 a dash control to be operative at cooperate with any operating means on a car. any desired position in the movement of the ac- The construction oi and manner in which my celerator or from idling to full' open throttle. device acts to exercise a predetermined influ- To these and other useful ends my invention ence upon the operator is as follows: 7

consists of parts and combinations thereof or Housing l at its upper end is provided with an 26 their equivalents as described and claimed and inturned flange 20, having an opening f a t- ShOWn in the accompanying aw n n which! able size to slidably embrace inner tube 2| which i ure 1 is a side elevation showing one form protrudes through the flange for a short distance of my invention, as connected to the accelerator and is, at its lower end, provided with a flange 3o andthrottle of an automobile. 22, the outer edge of which is slidably engaged Figure 2 is a front elevation of the device as by the inner wall of housing I; thus it will be shown in Figure 1, having certain parts cut away seen that tube 2! is free to move vertically. A to clearly illustrate some of the operating parts. head 23 is secured to the protruding end of tube Figure 3 is a fractional top view of the device 2i and a spring 24 is provided, which rests un- Shown in Figures 1 and 2. der tension between flanges 20 and 22; thus tube 35 Figure 4 is a section of the clutch device taken M will be held downward whereby head 23 will on line of Figure rest on flange 20 as indicated, but may raise a Figure 5 is a side elevation of a modification. id m distance against the tension of As thus illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, numeral spring 24 0 i designates the barrel or housing of the device Head 23 is provided with an inwardly exhaving bracket 2 suitably Shaped be tending flange having an opening 25 which loosetached to the cowl'board 3 of an automobile as 1y embraces plunger 4, This h d includes 9. indicated in Figure 1; chamber 26 formed by a half circle wall .21 hav- 1 provide an operating plunger 4 which ing an overhanging end member 28. Member "43 for the present, be considered in its oiiposition, 28 iii-provided with an opening which registers or in the position assumed when the engine'is with opening 25 and loosely embraces plunger idling, at which time the accelerator foot pad the end of which protrudes therethrough 6 is at its highest position as indicated. Achaving a. groove and split ring 29 to thereby celerator 6, plunger 4 and engine throttle lever 5 1 are shown wherein rod 8 provides a suitable prevent plunger from moving downwardly $0 connection therebetween; thus when the acceler low the P05111011 Shown in Flglll'es 1 nd I atoris pressed downward, lever I will cause the provide a flange 30 O plunger 4 in the p s on throttle t open, Plunger 4 is Qpemted by 1 1 illustrated, which is loosely embraced by tube 2|.

downward movement of accelerator 6 as 101- I provide a pr which 15 d p to 8 1? lows: Plunger 4 is spring held in the position held plunger 5 downward but will yieldingly per- 5 mit the plunger to be raised by the action of the accelerator as herebefore described.

It will now be seen that plunger 4 may be raised against the tension of spring 3| and that tube 2| may be raised against the tension of spring 24 and that when tube 2! is raised, the head 23 will follow. I provide means whereby plunger 4; may be locked to head 23 through a remotely controlled clutch, in the following manner:

I provide a sleeve 35 which fits loosely over' plunger #2 and within chamber 26, this chamber being considerably larger transversely, than the sleeve. I provideva pin 36 which is loosely embraced by sleeve 35 and is secured to member 23 whereby the sleeve may swing horizontally with pin 35 as an axis; thus noramlly plunger 4 vwll be free to move longitudinally.

I provide a threaded projection 31 having a screw threaded bolt 38 and a lock nut 39. A lever 40, having a hub 42 is journaled on bolt 38 and is normally held against bolt head 48. The inner edge of hub 42 is provided with a centrally positioned transverse V shaped groove $3.

I provide a fiat spring 45 one end of which is secured to sleeve35 by means of screw it as indicated, and having a reinforcing spring 46 thereunder. Spring 44 is shaped to thereby rest under hub 42 having a V shaped member ti, which registers with groove 43. When lever 41B is in the position shown in Figure 2 and the bolt 33 properly adjusted, sleeve 35 will be free and in a central position; thus plunger t will be free to move longitudinally through the head and sleeve. When lever W is moved in the direction indicated by curvilinear arrow in Figure 2, the V shaped groove in hub d2 will move the spring end toward projection 3'! and cause collar 35 to turn on its axis 36 and lock plunger s and prevent its movement longitudinally in thehead.

As thus shown and described it will be seen that when lever id is in the position shown in Figure 2, the plunger 5 is free but will exercise a mild pressureagalnst downward movement of the accelerator because of spring 3i; therefore, normally, springs 9 and M will act jointly against foot pressure on accelerator E. If however the accelerator. is pressed to its lowest position and lever 46 is moved to thereby lock plunger l in its highest position, spring 9 only will act against foot pressure on the accelerator; therefore the accelerator will be very sensitive to control. Ii however, lever W is caused to lock plunger 4 in its lowest position, a downward movement of the accelerator will act tomove the tube 2! upward against the pressure of spring 24; thus it will be seen that three pressures may be caused at will to act against the downward movement of the accelerator, via, either spring 9 only, springs 9 and 3i jointly or springs 9 and 24 jointly.

A'ssuming that accelerator 6 were moved to its central position, at which time lever t!) is caused to lock plungert to head 23, the first half of the accelerator movement will thereafter be resisted by spring 9 only and a further movement will be resistedby spring 24.

In order to provide remote or dash control of the clutch, I provide a swivel head 59 on the free end of lever til, having an orifice 5i and a screw 52 whereby a control wire 53 may be attached A conduit 54 is provided having a suitable anchor to the device and is made long enough to be attached at the other end to the instrument board 55 by means of a suitable sleeve 56 and lock nut 51, the free end of the control wire protruding and having a hand knob 58; thus the driver may at any time reach forward and engage the clutch to cause the spring 24 to come into action at any f tion of the accelerator as a secondary warning or control. He may if desired, lock plunger 4 to head 23 while in its lowest position, thus toree quire additional foot pressure on the accelerator all of the time.

In hill climbing, if greater speed is desired when the safety device is in action, additional pressure may be applied to the accelerator; however the tendency will be to maintain consciously or unconsciously, the cruising speed selected, because the supplemental spring will tend to move the accelerator back to that speed.

Referring now to Figure 5 wherein a design is shown which is quite simple but theoperation will be very similar in some respects to the operation of the design shown in the other figures. In this design the cowl board is designated by numeral 60 and the toe board by numeral 61, having a conventional accelerator pad '62. The engine throttle lever 63 is operatively connected to the accelerator 52 by means of rod 64 having a collar $5 secured thereto; a spring 56 is slightly compressed and held into position by means of washer l5? and holding pin 68. Thus it will be seen that the throttle lever 63 may be operated in the usual way by depressing the accelerator 62. I provide a bracket 69 which is preferably secured to the cowl board (it and providing hinged means for a lever 10, this lever having at its lower end, forked means H adapted to engage Washer 61 at any point in the rearward movement of rod B l as follows:

On the upperend oi lever ill I provide a hinged connection as at E2, to rod 13 which is suitably threaded at its forward end as at it, a hand knob '85 having a threaded sleeve 76 engages threads M, the rear end having a flange Ti. A suitable toothed bar It is provided with an extension 19 through which the rod 73 is slidably mounted. A similar extension 8!! is provided on the other end of the bar, having a loop Bl which loosely embraces sleeve 16 and is spaced apart from member 3d far enough to loosely embrace flange ll. Thus it will be seen that bar 18 may be moved longitudinally on rod 73 by simply turning knob 15. I provide a holding dog 82 which is secured to member 69. A slot is provided in member 65 whereby the knob '15 may be lifted and the rod moved thus to position and lock the fork H in any position along the path of washer 61 whereby the spring may be made to resist further movement of the accelerator after washer Bl contacts the fork H. For example, when knob i5 is in its furthest rear position the accele erator may be pressed to its lowest position without contact between fork 'H and washer 61; if" however the knob is moved forward so the center notch on the bar I8 engages pawl 82, the fork will be caused to contact washer 67 and cause the spring to resist further movement of the accelerator at its half way position. Clearly the fork may be placed in as many positions in the path of washer 61 as there are notches in bar 78 and a close adjustment may be secured by turning knob 75; thus the action will be very similar to the action provided in the design shown Figures 1 to 4. It will be understood, however,

that the screw threaded adjustment in Figure 5 I may be dispensed with or members similar to and 8| may be anchored to the cowl or instrument board whereby the adjustment may be made by simply turning the knob 15.

Thus it will be seen that in either design shown, when driving at a safe and desired cruising speed, the operator may cause the safety spring to be engaged whereby additional pressure would be required to increase the cruising speed, this secondarycontact point furnishing a safety position which will tend to keep the accelerator at the predetermined point. Clearly, for hill climbing or a necessary spurt of speed, a mental process will readily act to produce the added pressure needed to overcome the safety spring.

Clearly I have shown a device which may be changed in various ways without departing from the spirit of my invention as recited in the appended claims.

Having shown and described my invention I claim:

1. A device of the class described, comprising an accelerator and a controlling device in combination, said controlling device comprising a plunger having a spring and being operatively connected to said controlling device whereby the downward movement of said accelerator may be yieldinglyi resisted thereby, a clutch slidabiy mounted and slidably contacting said plunger and having a spring adapted to hold it in its normal position, means for causing said clutch to rigidly engage said plunger at any position thereof caused by the downward movement of said accelerator, whereby a further movement of said accelerator will be resisted by said clutch spring.

2. A device of the class described, comprising an accelerator and a controlling device in combination, said controlling device comprising a plunger having a spring and being operatively connected to said controlling device whereby the downward movement of said accelerator may be yieldingly resisted thereby, a clutch slidabiy mounted and slidabiy contacting said plunger and having a spring adapted to hold it in its normal position, remote manually operated means for causing said clutch to rigidly engage said plunger at any position caused by the downward movement of said accelerator, whereby a further movement of said accelerator will be resisted by said clutch spring.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a power valve, an accelerator pedal having an operating connection to said valve, a retrieving spring adapted to close said valve, a secondary spring having a controlling device which extends to within reach 01 the driver and means whereby said controlling device may be moved at will to thereby cause said secondary spring to moderately resist further opening of said valve at any predetermined point in the downward movement of said pedal. JOHN S. RODGERS. 

